Doctors appointed to Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACFs) or Clinical Lectureship (CLs) must have a joint academic/clinical annual review of competence progression (ARCP). The form developed to monitor and document academic progress is below: –
This form is designed for the academic supervisor to complete at or after the Academic Review meeting, to be reviewed at the ARCP by the Panel.
Academic doctors in training should meet with their academic supervisor at regular intervals to review progress and agree objectives for the coming period. An annual assessment of academic progress should take place at least one month before the joint academic/clinical ARCP. The academic supervisor must then complete the Report on Academic Progress which needs to be agreed by the resident doctor for submission to the joint academic/clinical ARCP, along with the resident doctor’s supporting documentation from the academic assessment. This may include: –
- A written assessment of the doctor’s own progress and achievements
- A description as to whether the doctor’s progress met their expectations
- Details of anything that may have adversely affected the doctor’s progress
Membership of the Joint Clinical/Academic ARCP Panel
There must be the right composition to enable a balanced assessment of clinical and academic progress. A single senior academic person on the panel would be appropriate, although two academic representatives would be optimal. The academic representative should not directly be involved in the doctor’s academic programme.
ARCP Outcome
The panel will consider the academic and clinical progress and decide as to the appropriate outcome. Although the panel is assessing both clinical and academic outcomes, if sufficient academic progress has not been achieved the resident doctor should not be given an outcome 2 or 3. However, consideration may be given as to whether the resident doctor remains on the academic programme or whether they should return to the clinical training programme.